Both foreign and local airlines
operating in the country are complaining about the effect of the monetary
policies of the current government to their businesses.

These include the current lingering
foreign exchange scarcity, which they claimed has made it difficult for them to
repatriate their ticket sales proceeds for several months.

The airlines claimed that the
operating environment in Nigeria is now very harsh and this is making them take
some harsh decisions It will be recalled that two weeks ago, the National Union
of Air Transport Employees ,NUATE, revealed that foreign airlines planned to
sack about 2,000 Nigerian workers due to what they claimed was their inability
to transfer their earnings to their respective home countries to meet
operational costs in accordance with international rules because of new Central
Bank of Nigeria , CBN, policy on forex and fund transfer.

In a letter addressed to the
Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and made available to
newsmen, Acting General Secretary of NUATE, Comrade Olayinka Abioye said the
plan has destabilized the affected workers, adding that the Federal Government
should wade in and prevent the huge job loss.

According to Abioye, “The reason
being adduced for this danger is that their earnings in the past year are under
lock with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN , as they are unable to transfer
these earnings to their respective home countries to meet operational costs in
accordance with international rules.

“Following concerns raised recently
by leaders of these workers and other stakeholders and in appreciation of the
good intent of the government’s fiscal policy, we humbly make this clarion call
for your (Minister’s) intervention to grant foreign airlines concession to
repatriate their proceeds to their home countries,” he said.

The foreign airlines said there is
now “ Foreign exchange risk” and this is now a major component in determining
airfares on Nigerian routes.

Investigation revealed that the airlines operating
on international routes in the country have increased airfares by as much as
100 per cent as a result of this development.

They said government forex policies
had become harsh and that they found it difficult to transfer their funds to
their headquarters.

A survey of all the major Nigerian
routes flown by the foreign airlines in the country showed that the cost of
return tickets had been increased by between 80 per cent and 120 per cent of
the previous fares, depending on the carrier, time of booking and the
passengers volume.

Subject to last minute changes
Airfares on the Lagos-London and Abuja-London routes now cost an average of
N380,000 for the economy class seat, as against the average of N200,000 a year
ago on the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

This represents an increase of 111
per cent. Also, on Air France, an economic ticket on the Lagos/Abuja-London
routes now goes for about N360,000, while Lufthansa German Airlines charges
N380,000.

These represent an increase of 80
per cent and 90 per cent, respectively, when compared with an average fare of
N200,000 on the routes a year ago. A Business Class ticket now goes for as high
as N3m as against the N1.5m a year ago on the Lagos-London route. On the
Lagos-Atlanta and Lagos-Houston routes, Delta Airlines and United Airlines,
which used to fly Economy Class passengers for between N270,000 and N330,000
some 12 months ago, now charge an average fare of N600,000, depending on the
time of booking.

South Africa Airways which used to
fly the Lagos-Johannesburg routes for between N100,000 and N120,000 for the
economy class, now flies the route for between N180,000 and N220,000, depending
on the time of booking and the season. The Lagos-Paris route, which used to go
for N180,000 on the average, now goes for around N400,000.

This represents an increase of 120
per cent. Most of the representatives and spokespersons of these foreign
airlines refused to have their names in print as they claimed that airfares and
operational polices are determined at their various headquarters abroad and
they have to seek clearance from their head offices to make statements on
policy matters.

Nigerian carriers like Arik Air and
Medview Air who ply international routes have also been accused of increasing
airfare. But Arik Air Communication Manager, Mr Adebanji Ola said “Allegations
making the rounds that Arik Air has increased fares on the London Heathrow, New
York JFK and Johannesburg routes are untrue.

“We wish to make it clear that we
have not increased fares on any of our routes (international, regional or
domestic) in the recent past. Also, we charge our fares in Naira at the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official rate. “